


Love is a Bullet (and You Shot Me, You Son of a Gun)

by moonrise31



Series: once, twice, and again until it's over [12]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, so much fluff you're welcome for the cavities, some quality mitzu time because they are also soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 18:39:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15978128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonrise31/pseuds/moonrise31
Summary: In which Mina could play matchmaker for their entire friend group -- and herself, if only her conscience would let her.





	Love is a Bullet (and You Shot Me, You Son of a Gun)

**Author's Note:**

> happy early birthday, jho! remember that you are always young at heart, because your youth is as strong as mimo definitely is

"Unnie, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Momo turned and gave Mina one of her more dangerous pouts. "What, you don't trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Mina said quickly. "I'm just saying that we could take the bus, or even a taxi, instead of renting a car that might not even work properly."

"Relax, Mitang," Momo laughed, twirling the car keys around her pointer finger. "I got my driver's license back in Japan, and I don't think cars have changed much now that we're in Korea."

"I suppose." Mina managed to keep a straight face. "Is there a particular reason you're trying to get in on the passenger side, then?"

Momo paused for a full two seconds, and then pulled the door open before sweeping her free arm widely. "To let you get in first, obviously."

"Of course," Mina agreed sagely, ignoring how her heart tripped for a beat. She returned Momo's shameless grin. "Thank you, unnie."

"Of course," Momo echoed as she made her way to the other side of the car. She slid into the driver's seat and fastened her seatbelt. "Alright, how do we turn this thing on?"

"The power button?" Mina suggested.

"Huh." Momo scratched her chin. "Technology moves fast these days." After a few moments of fumbling, the car's dashboard blinked on, and she shifted the gear to reverse. The car groaned as it began to back slowly out of the parking space.

"Your parking brake, unnie," Mina reminded her.

"Right." Momo found the brake after some searching, and then snapped her fingers. "I should turn on the headlights, too, since it's getting dark." She flipped one of the levers behind the steering wheel.

"The turn signal is also a light," Mina said diplomatically after a few seconds of tedious blinking.

"Sorry, Mitang." Momo's eyes melted into something dangerously puppy-like. "I promise I know how to drive, okay?"

Mina reached out and patted the older girl lightly on the shoulder. "I know, unnie. I'm sure you'll be fine once we get onto the road. It'll be like riding a bike; you can't really forget no matter how long it's been."

And the car ride really did turn out to be one of the more enjoyable ones Mina had ever been on -- once Momo quickly remembered that she had to drive on the _right_ side of the road now. Maybe Mina liked it because Momo's favorite playlist (the one with all of Mina's favorite songs) was on shuffle the entire time. Or maybe it was because they ended up missing the last turn, and took almost twice as long trying to double back again.

They were late to their appointment, but Mina couldn't complain, because it meant twice as many moments of Momo whining for the red lights at every intersection to turn green, and just as many moments of Momo pointing out her favorite restaurants on _this_ side of the road, now that they were going the opposite way.

This was the day that the stutters in Mina's heartbeat grew into skips, and then jumps.

This was the day that Mina admitted to herself that maybe, she liked holding Momo's hand more than Momo liked holding hers.

-

In retrospect, Mina should have known better than to send Sana and Nayeon to her room unsupervised. 

Having guests over at the apartment she and Tzuyu shared was rare, since neither of them would be caught dead being the first of their friend group to suggest any sort of get-together. But Tzuyu was apparently feeling magnanimous that day, and extended the invitation to the two older girls after the four of them finished their joint statistics class. And it wasn't like Tzuyu hadn't checked first, with a questioning glance in Mina's direction, so all Mina needed to do was smile, and here they were now.

"It's freezing in here," Sana declared as soon as they stepped inside, pressing herself close to Nayeon's side. "Unnie, warm me up."

Nayeon immediately wrapped an arm around the other girl's waist, although she, too, was in the middle of suppressing a shiver. "It is actually _subzero_ in this apartment. How is it actually colder in here than it is outside?"

"Heating is money, unnie, and we are broke university students," Tzuyu deadpanned. "It's nothing an extra sweatshirt can't fix."

Sana pouted. "Okay, fine." She twisted in Nayeon's hold to face Mina. "Can I borrow one of yours?"

"Sure, unnie. They're hanging in my closet," Mina answered without much thought. "I can make some tea for everyone."

Tzuyu headed to her own bedroom to put away her bag and books while Sana and Nayeon, still huddled together, shuffled through the doorway to Mina's. Mina busied herself in the kitchen area -- meaning the maybe three square meters of space behind the counter that served as separation from the living room -- grabbing a box of her favorite tea and setting the kettle on the stove to boil. 

Then her knees gave out. 

Mina barely managed to grab onto the edge of the counter, catching herself before her ass crashed to the floor and her head banged into the stovetop. Her ears rang even as her heart dropped to her stomach; she'd only felt this way a handful of times before.

"Mina?" Sana called from the other end of the hallway. "Is the navy one okay?"

"Yeah," Mina gasped, even though she knew the others wouldn't be able to hear her. She straightened slowly, silently giving thanks to the powers above that the dizzy spell was already receding. Once her skull no longer felt like it had been stuffed with helium and her legs seemed at least semi-steady, she made a mad dash for her bedroom.

Nayeon whipped around when Mina burst through the half-open door. "Hey there, what's the rush?" 

"You," Mina exhaled heavily once, twice more before taking in a big gulp of air. "Unnies. Who did you shoot?"

The older girls glanced at the space on the bed between them. Sana picked up the object lying innocently among the wrinkles of Mina's comforter. "You mean with this?"

Mina eyed the gun warily as Sana began to spin it around one finger. "Yes, with _that_."

"Relax," Nayeon laughed, standing up and walking over to rub the younger girl's back. "It's obviously not real. I mean, it's _pink_ , for crying out loud."

"I need to sit down," Mina said faintly, slowly sinking to her knees as a different kind of lightheadedness took over. "I think you two should, too."

Sana and Nayeon exchanged looks, but otherwise silently reclaimed their places on the edge of Mina's bed. 

"Unnies? Is the tea ready?" Tzuyu poked her head in. "What's going on?"

Mina exhaled, and then patted the space on the carpet next to her. "You might as well be here for this." She waited until Tzuyu had also taken a seat, and then heaved another deep sigh -- the kind that forcibly raised both her shoulders before dropping them like they were lead weights. 

The others waited with bated breath.

"That," Mina finally said, quiet, "is Cupid's gun."

"Cupid?" Sana frowned. "You mean the Greek baby that shoots people with arrows to make them fall in love?"

Mina nodded. "Roman baby, but otherwise, yes."

Nayeon let out a tentative laugh. "Wow, it's not even April Fool's Day. I'm impressed at the level of prank you're trying to pull, Miss Myoui."

A look of distress flickered across Mina's face just before Tzuyu placed a gentle hand on top of hers. "So, unnie." Mina turned to meet the other's stare. "Are you saying that you're...Cupid?"

Mina shook her head. "Not really." She paused. "The concept of Cupid is similar to the concept of most deities and other mythical things -- mysterious but all-powerful entities people back then used to explain phenomena they couldn't explain otherwise." She tilted her chin at the object still lying in between Sana and Nayeon. "That gun is one of those phenomena."

Sana picked up the gun, with both hands this time. She ran a palm carefully along the pistol barrel. "They had weapons like this back in Ancient Rome?"

A smile twitched at the corner of Mina's lips. "Weapons are allowed to upgrade over time, unnie."

"So how did _you_ end up with it?" Nayeon asked, casting furtive glances at the gun still in Sana's grasp while nervously scratching under her collarbone.

Mina shrugged. "My grandparents gave it to me when I entered high school back in Japan, like a sort of coming-of-age thing. I don't think it's always been in our family, but it's been passed down for at least the last four or five generations this way."

"So you can make people fall in love?" Tzuyu asked with a tilt of her head, and Mina resisted the urge to hug the younger girl like she would a soft puppy. 

"Not exactly," Mina said instead. "If you get shot, your feelings towards the person you like at that time will get amplified, to the point where you can't deny them any longer. And then you're literally forced to act on those feelings."

Nayeon stopped scratching.

"That's so cute!" Sana squealed, dropping the gun again as she clapped her hands together. "You can literally create world peace, Minari! Just make everyone fall in love with each other."

Mina laughed. "I wish I could. But every time that gun is shot, it uses my...strength?" She paused, sitting up straighter. "I get more exhausted the more repressed the feelings are, because then it takes more energy to force those feelings to the point of no return, if that makes sense."

Nayeon immediately frowned as she slid off the bed, reaching towards Mina again. "Are you okay then? Since Sana shot the gun just now."

"Oh no, you're right!" Sana gasped, diving to the floor and tackling Mina along with. "You're actually _shivering_. Do you want my -- I mean _your_ \-- sweatshirt?"

"I'm alright." Mina chuckled again, returning Sana's hug and shooting Nayeon a knowing grin over the other Japanese girl's shoulder. "Whatever feelings Nayeon-unnie has apparently didn't need a lot of encouragement."

Nayeon's cheeks flushed pink -- a deeper shade than the horrendous bubblegum color the gun was -- just as Sana whipped around to face her. "Oh, really? So who's your big crush, unnie?"

"Can we talk for a second?" Nayeon muttered, getting to her feet and holding her hand out for Sana to take. 

"Oh, okay!" Sana chirped, grabbing Nayeon's hand and standing up. Then she wrapped Nayeon's arm snugly around her own waist before the two of them stepped into the hallway. 

Tzuyu and Mina traded looks. After a few moments, Tzuyu said, "Are you sure you're okay, unnie?"

Mina nodded, letting the other girl pull her to her feet. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Tzuyu gestured to the gun Sana had dropped back onto the comforter. "Maybe you should keep that somewhere safer, where Sana-unnie won't be able to just find it and start shooting at random people."

Mina chuckled. "Yeah, I usually keep it hidden. But last night I..." She trailed off, coughing into her fist.

Tzuyu's eyes widened. "You used it?"

Mina shrugged. "I was trying to finish an assignment, and our neighbor was being loud again."

"Oh, Siyeon-unnie?" Tzuyu rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure this entire floor wishes she'd just ask that Kim Bora girl out so we wouldn't have to keep hearing her only yelling about wanting to, especially when it's past one in the morning."

Mina smiled.

Tzuyu's jaw dropped. "You _shot_ her?"

"Lucky for us," Mina said, "this gun's bullets can go through walls."

"Unnie," Tzuyu pulled her into a strong hug, "you're my hero."

Before Mina could reply, her bedroom door swung open all the way, revealing a grinning Sana and Nayeon.

"So." Nayeon cleared her throat, even as the younger girls gave the two of them knowing smiles. "Sana and I have something to tell you."

-

"Hey, Mina-unnie." Chaeyoung poked the older girl's cheek. "Are you okay?"

Mina jerked back slightly, shaking her head to clear it. "What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Dahyun frowned at her from across the cafe table. "You looked kind of broody just now." She paused, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "Then again, I guess that's how you look most of the time."

Momo, meanwhile, just chuckled, withdrawing her arm from where it had been draped snugly around Dahyun's shoulders. "Aw, Mina's so cute when she's jealous."

"Jealous?" Chaeyoung raised her eyebrows.

Mina coughed. "What do you mean, unnie?"

Momo just shot her a smug smile before reaching towards Dahyun again. "You know I only hug Dahyun all the time because her face is just so _squishy_."

Dahyun said something that might have been to the effect of "that is your opinion, and your opinion only, unnie", but most of it was garbled from how vigorously Momo was pulling and prodding at her cheeks. 

"Ah." Chaeyoung suddenly shot a sly grin at Mina. "You know that Momo-unnie would hug you whenever you asked, Mina-unnie."

"I -- I know. Of course I know." Mina quickly raised her coffee to her lips, mumbling into the plastic cover. "She would for any of us." 

"But you especially, Mitang," Momo hummed, leaning all the way over to pat Mina's ducked head. 

"Unnie!" Dahyun yelled, swiping Momo's drink out of the way just in time. "Careful, you'll spill!"

Fortunately, by the time the small commotion had calmed down, Mina's cheeks had returned to their normal color. 

-

Contrary to popular belief and general "no jam" rumors, Chaeyoung -- and by extension, Jeongyeon -- threw _amazing_ parties.

They weren't big, sure, but Mina personally enjoyed gatherings with the nine of them more than an apartment overflowing with half-illuminated faces she would never see again once the sun rose the next day.

Of course, because the party was only limited to the nine of them, topics like how exactly Nayeon and Sana had finally gotten together came up faster than the time it took for Nayeon to get tipsy. Which was why Mina found the attention of the entire circle switch to her as soon as a reasonably sober Nayeon grinned and announced that Sana had shot her with Mina's gun.

"I can explain," was the first thing to slip out of Mina's mouth.

"This will be good," Jeongyeon grinned, leaning back against the foot of the couch as she lazily snagged a chip from the bowl in Jihyo's lap.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason for this," Momo interjected from her seat directly on Mina's left. "This is Mitang, after all." And punctuated her statement by pulling Mina in for a one-armed hug.

Mina quickly took another sip of her drink.

"Mina is Cupid," Sana supplied helpfully. "In the literal sense. And she has a gun, which I accidentally shot," she aimed a finger gun at Nayeon's chest and lowered her thumb, voicing a high-pitched "bang!" as she did so. The older girl jerked dramatically back, palm smacking above her heart. Sana turned to the rest of the circle, grin wide and smug. "And that made Nayeon-unnie realize how much in _love_ she was with me, so here we are."

Nayeon scoffed. "It's not like I had to work very hard to win you over."

"You're absolutely right," Sana said happily, pulling Nayeon closer -- a technically impossible feat considering the older girl was sitting in between her legs and already leaning against her so her cheek would be within pecking distance.

Dahyun let out an obnoxious wolf-whistle, followed by a reminder for her unnies to "leave room for Jesus". Jihyo shouted for them to get a room, followed by Chaeyoung yelling that they were absolutely _not_ going to be using hers. Jeongyeon immediately sat up, almost upsetting Jihyo's chip bowl, when she realized that the sanctity of her own bedroom was now on the line.

"So what did Sana mean, exactly?" Momo asked curiously, turning her attention away from the intense showdown of rock-paper-scissors that had suddenly exploded between the two hosts. 

Mina watched as the offending couple got up and went to sit at the kitchen counter, a respectful distance from each other now except for the fact that their fingers were still intertwined. Mina's head had settled into a pleasant buzz -- the kind brought on by a lightened heart, because she was with those who mattered most to her -- and she pondered a few routes of explanation before settling with, "I have a gun that can force the person I shoot to confess to the person they like."

"Oh." Momo nodded, thinking. Then she, too, cast her glance over to the counter, where Sana was attempting to mix drinks with only one hand and meeting limited success. Nayeon was accordingly doubled over and possibly hyperventilating from laughter. "That sounds pretty useful."

"Sometimes it is," Mina said with a smile. Sana somehow managed to catch enough of her concoction in a single cup, and raised the drink to Nayeon's waiting lips. Mina let out a content sigh. "If it turns out like that."

"They really are in love, aren't they," Momo said idly, resting her chin on Mina's shoulder. "Just look at the way they're staring at each other."

"It's nice," Mina agreed, trying not to think about how Momo's arm had now settled comfortably around her waist, how the older girl's palm was resting on her thigh and burning a pleasant hole through her jeans. "I'm happy for them."

Mina felt Momo's nod more than anything else, the latter's chin pressing into her shoulder with each dip of Momo's head. "Me too. I mean, Sana's the best friend I've ever had, and Nayeon-unnie deserves the entire world. So of course I would be."

Mina nodded, too, because Momo was entirely right, objectively speaking. 

Then Momo's chuckle brushed against her ear. "Are you tired, Mitang?"

Mina blinked a few times, trying to clear her head. "No, just trying to...ignore some things."

Momo straightened a little, arm tightening around Mina's waist and not helping even a little bit with the younger girl's quiet predicament. "We may want to start paying attention, actually. I'm pretty sure Dahyun's going to start dancing on the coffee table at any minute."

By the time Nayeon and Sana returned to the rest of the group, Dahyun had been coaxed down from the tabletop, but only in favor of starting a karaoke session that Sana obligingly jumped straight into the middle of. This left Nayeon with no choice but to dive at Jeongyeon, threatening to smother the other in cheek kisses, and the two fell to the floor while Jihyo clapped excitedly, alternating between cheering for Nayeon to land one on Jeongyeon's lips, or for Jeongyeon to smack Nayeon in the face -- whichever came first. 

It was easy for time to pass like this. And Mina was happy, dizzy from the laughter and the alcohol and the fuzziness that only having Momo glued to her side practically the entire night could bring. 

So before Mina knew it, a sleepy Tzuyu was tugging on her elbow. Chaeyoung had passed out in a corner of the couch and lay draped across Jihyo's lap. Momo patted Mina's head goodbye, and Dahyun cheerfully wished them well before offering to help Jeongyeon begin cleaning up. Sana and Nayeon had mysteriously disappeared, but no one wanted to bother about it until a more reasonable hour of the morning.

"How are you feeling?" Mina asked once they'd stepped into the crisp night air. Their own apartment was about a five-minute's walk away, but even ten meters could seem like a hundred depending on how much Mina would have to piggyback Tzuyu along for -- it had happened, once, and Mina wouldn't tease Tzuyu at all about it if not for the fact that Sana happened to bring it up every other week. 

"I'm okay," Tzuyu mumbled, blinking sluggishly even as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of one hand. The other slipped comfortably into Mina's grip. "And I know that _you're_ more than okay, right, unnie?"

Mina chuckled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Because you like Momo-unnie," Tzuyu said bluntly, "and you two were less than two centimeters apart the entire time." She paused. "Except for when one of you had to go to the bathroom."

Mina shook her head, a fond smile curling at the corners of her mouth. "I'm not sure if drunk Tzuyu or sober Tzuyu is more straightforward."

"It's just Tzuyu," the younger girl told her. "Hey, unnie, what do you like about Momo-unnie?"

"What I like about Momo-unnie." Mina hummed. "I don't think she's gotten mad or annoyed at anybody, ever."

"That's true," Tzuyu mused. "I don't get how she hasn't yelled at Nayeon-unnie by now. Even _you_ have, that one time."

Mina chuckled. "And we always tease her for eating everything, but she still never forgets to share."

Tzuyu hummed, considering. "What do you expect from someone who actually thinks about what it would like to be a pig?" 

" _And_ ," Mina said, failing to suppress all of her laughter at the genuinely serious expression on Tzuyu's face. "Because..."

"Because what?" Tzuyu prompted after a moment.

"Because one time she called me her girlfriend, and I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to be," Mina finished mildly.

"And that's why I know she likes you back, unnie," Tzuyu declared. 

Mina shook her head. "It was just a joke, Tzuyu." 

"Every joke starts from a bit of truth," Tzuyu informed her. "Just shoot her with your Cupid gun, and you'll see."

Mina's chuckle was nervous, this time. "I'd rather not."

"Or if you're too afraid to shoot _her_ ," Tzuyu pressed, "why don't you just shoot yourself instead?"

Mina laughed, shaking her head. "It doesn't work that way, unfortunately -- creates some sort of paradox, or something. And I'd rather not get into that when I'm definitely not taking anything past second-year calculus."

"Fine." Tzuyu pouted. "But for the record, you can't shoot me, either."

Mina tilted her head. "Why not? Do you have someone you're crushing on?" Tzuyu struggled to sort her expression into some form of her usual aggressive poker face. "You _do_." Mina's grin widened. "Who is it, then? Chaeyoung? Jihyo?"

"What makes you think it's someone in our friend group?" Tzuyu grumbled, cheeks suddenly a healthy pink.

"It's totally Chaeyoung!" Mina whisper-yelled. And then squeaked slightly when Tzuyu tried to shove her away, but she managed to duck just in time. "Chou Tzuyu has a crush!" 

" _Unnie!_ "

Tzuyu chased Mina all the way to their building and eventually through the door of their apartment, the night's revelations lost among breathless giggles and good-natured shoves. They both ended up crashing on the couch and dozing off, sleeping well into the next afternoon.

-

Mina wasn't quite sure what to expect when Momo texted her asking if it was alright to come over, but it certainly wasn't her opening the door to the older girl saying, "Can you help me confess?"

Mina blinked, but still stepped aside to let Momo in. "Confess...like, romantically?"

Momo nodded, toeing off her shoes before walking further into the apartment. "I've been working up the courage to tell my crush for a while, but I'm starting to think I maybe can't do it without some outside intervention."

Mina ignored the way her gut twisted -- because this was what she'd been prepared for from the start, she told herself, even as a part of her ran through the rest of their friend group. Momo and Jeongyeon had started hanging out a lot recently -- Chaeyoung often complained that she was going to be replaced as a roommate. And come to think of it, Momo and _Chaeyoung_ had been spending a lot of time together working on a video project for their film-making class. Or it could even be Tzuyu, since -- 

"Mina?" Momo asked, brow furrowing.

"Ah, sorry." Mina blinked rapidly, and then pulled her lips into a smile. Tried not to think of Chaeyoung's party three weeks ago, and everyone finding out about her stupid pink gun, and Momo's constant warmth making her feel like she'd been on the very top of the world. "So you want me to shoot you?"

"If that's okay." Momo paused, and then scratched the back of her head. "Now that I say it out loud, it sounds kind of weird. So you don't have to if that makes you feel uncomfortable or anything."

"No!" Mina shook her head vigorously, and then cleared her throat and lowered her voice. "No. It's fine, unnie. Of course I can do that for you."

"Really?" Momo brightened. "Thanks, Mitang! You're the best."

Mina managed a smile, instinctively bringing up a hand to grab Momo's. But then she realized, and quietly let her hand fall to her side, taking a step back instead. "Come on, it's in my room."

The gun wasn't something Mina took out often, to be honest; she could count with one hand the number of times she'd used it since she'd arrived in Korea, and that included Sana's serendipitous discovery. Yet, her joints felt mechanical, muscles moving purely by memory as she slid the sleek, polished metal box from under her bed and entered the combination. She flipped the lid open, and then lifted the pistol out of where it lay nestled in a cushion of soft red fabric.

Momo's eyes widened. "Okay, I know I really like Barbie dolls and that one song about Lamborghinis, but that is _really_ pink."

Mina laughed before she could help herself. "That seems to be the general reaction." Then the feel of the gun weighed her hand down again, the textured grip rough against the lines of her palm. She took a deep breath, before raising the pistol so that it pointed at Momo. "Are you ready, unnie?"

Momo nodded.

Mina squeezed her eyes shut, and pulled the trigger.

After a few moments, Momo cleared her throat. "Is that it?"

Mina slowly lowered the gun, blinking rapidly. "I...I think so?"

"Was something supposed to happen?" Momo asked.

Mina glanced down at the object still in her hand. "Well, shooting the gun always takes some energy -- the more buried the target's feelings are, the more drained I feel after. But..." She frowned.

"You didn't feel anything?" Momo suggested.

"Not really." Mina raised the gun once more. "Maybe I should try again?"

Momo laughed, then -- the kind that always curved her eyes up into something indescribably soft. "I don't think you need to."

Mina looked up, and almost went cross-eyed at how close Momo had suddenly become. "What do you mean, unnie?"

"I mean," said Momo, "that I guess I was already ready to confess."

"Oh." Mina smiled bravely. "That's great, unnie. Good luck!"

"Thanks." Momo shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and then grinned again. "I'll do it now, then."

"Okay," Mina murmured, shutting her eyes briefly as she waited for Momo to leave the room.

"Mina."

She slowly opened her eyes, blinking when she realized Momo was still in front of her. "Unnie?"

Momo chuckled, lifting a hand to pat Mina softly on the head. "For how smart you are, you can be dense sometimes, you know?"

Mina stilled. 

"I like you, Mitang," Momo said quietly. "I didn't need your Cupid gun to make me confess because I already know that I like you. And I think that I maybe want to be in love with you, too, some day.”

Mina felt her entire face heat up -- maybe all the way out to her ears. " _What?_ "

Momo laughed lightly, tilting her head as she tried to meet Mina's eyes. "I haven't been reading this wrong, have I? Because if I have, Sana is _really_ going to get it when I have to tell her how wrong she was -- "

"Unnie," Mina said, somewhere between a choke and a chuckle, "I like you. I like you, too. A lot." She laughed clearly this time. "I like you a lot."

"Oh." Momo brightened even more, somehow, and reached out to gently thread their fingers together. "That's great, then."

"It is," Mina whispered. And tossed the garishly pink gun onto her bed before letting Momo pull her closer.

"I'm home," Tzuyu called, followed by the slam of the front door. The older girls barely had time to each take a step back before she passed by Mina's bedroom.

"Hi," said Momo, a stupidly goofy grin on her face.

"Hi, unnie," Tzuyu deadpanned. "I'd congratulate you two, but I just spent an hour trying to study with Sana-unnie and Nayeon-unnie when all they really wanted to do was keep accidentally involving me in their game of footsie under the table."

Mina managed to push back a chuckle. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Maybe you just need to find someone too," Momo suggested. "Have anyone in mind, maknae?"

Tzuyu shifted her gaze nervously, but ended up directly meeting Mina's amused stare. After a brief glance at the gun still lying on the bed, the youngest quickly ducked back into the hallway. "No, I absolutely do not, thank you for asking, I'm just going to drop off my stuff and then leave, have a nice day unnies -- "

Momo turned to Mina. And with a smirk on her face and a squeeze of Mina's hand, Momo took off after Tzuyu, shouting, "Chou Tzuyu! Spill, _right now_ , or I'll make Sana and Nayeon-unnie play footsie with you _on purpose_!"

This was the day that the jumps in Mina's heartbeat lifted off, soaring from her chest to her throat and her smile, tingling down her arms to warm all her fingers and fluttering to her heels to lighten her steps until they were made of only air.

This was the day that their first kiss settled into a wide grin on Mina's lips, because she knew from Momo's smile that the both of them could barely wait for the next one.


End file.
